Why Experts Get Paid More
By Jim Palmer Jr.

After moving around the world a lot, a middle-aged woman felt she knew a thing or two about selling real estate. Her impression was that she had everything she needed in the palm of her hand (smarty pants phone) and all she needed a broker for was to open doors and write contracts. Plenty of agents it seemed to her, no longer did enough work to justify a traditional commission amount, so she got her own real estate license, thinking she could do a better job and charge less for it. Long story short, her attempt at discount brokerage failed. She soon realized that providing professional real estate services involved much more than her perception of what Realtors® do. What she didn’t realize is that most people recognize the value of a professional and not only want them involved in their real estate transactions, but are willing to pay more to get more. She had no clue what level of expertise was involved and that the real work is not just opening doors, chauffeuring buyers, or even writing tricky ads.

There is an old story that has circulated the internet that goes something like this: A giant ship engine failed. The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure out how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youth. He carried a large bag of tools and he went immediately to work. He inspected the engine carefully, top to bottom. Two of the ship’s owners watched the old man, hoping he knew what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something and instantly the engine lurched to life. He put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars. “What?!” the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything!” so they wrote the old man a note saying, “Please send us an itemized bill. The man sent a bill that read: Tapping with hammer………. $2.00. Knowing where to tap……….. $9,998.     

If you are one of those skeptics who think brokers don’t deserve that much commission, consider that the small actions you see them perform are important, but knowing how and where to make an effort makes all the difference!